I know Europeans use the styro hives a lot--and they are in the catalogs here. I can't bring myself to try them, though. One of my favorite things about beekeeping is that it is, for the most part, thrillingly low-tech. As someone who manages a college's email systems, I'm happy to come home to something without a keyboard, made of actual wood. It's the same reason I wouldn't use a bee blower, even though it would save time. The noise!

I know, I'm being old-fashioned, but I love wood, its color, its smell, the way it feels.

I am with you there lesli. I love to work with wood, this is why my father and I are starting to build hives comercialy. As soon as I get a few built I will post some pics, maybe we can even have a contest and I can supply a new complete hive as the prize. bye

That would be fun Ryan. Maybe a contest on the best over-all honey - judging for the creative packaging, label styling, and also color & flavor of the honey. We could have you and your family be the judges. I know I'd participate - of course it would have to be next summer, after the harvesting. :)